1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automated message system and method for sending messages to a called party.
2. Description of Related Art
Automated message systems are often used in telephone communications. A common example is an answering machine. Typically in such systems, a calling party receives an automated message after calling a called party. The automated message may contain instructions directing the calling party to take certain actions such as xe2x80x9cPlease leave a message after the tone.xe2x80x9d
A typical answering machine, for example, plays a pre-recorded message that may take several seconds to complete before directing the calling party to respond. When the calling party is very busy or is using a high cost connection such as a cellular network, the time required to interface with an answering machine may be expensive to the calling party both in terms of lost productivity and telephone connection costs. Thus, technological improvements are needed to reduce the cost to a calling party when receiving automated messages from a called party.
This invention provides an automated message system and method for sending a message from a calling party to a called party when the called party""s telephone is answered by an answering machine. The automated message system connects to the called party in response to a control signal generated by the calling party. The control signal may be a dual tone multiple frequency (DTMF) signal generated by the calling party by pressing a key of a keypad. The automated message system waits for the answering machine""s message to complete and leaves the calling party""s message on the called party""s answering machine at the appropriate time. Thus, the calling party may go on-hook and call another called party.
The automated message system also reduces the high cost of cellular phone connections of the calling party. The calling party stops paying for cellular phone costs after the automated message system connects to the called party and the calling party goes on-hook. The time that the automated message system spends waiting for the called party""s answering machine message to complete and the time spent outputting the calling party""s message is covered by a much lower landline costs. Thus, the calling party""s costs for leaving the message on the called party""s answering machine is greatly reduced.